FAQs

Our Most Frequently Asked Questions

Do you sell gold?

Yes – we sell gold and silver bullion, based on our current inventory. Although our selection is limited, our bullion selling prices are among the best in Vancouver. Please contact us to inquire about our current bullion for sale.

How can I sell you my gold?

You can drop in to see us at any of our offices: Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond or Surrey. When you arrive, we will test and weigh your gold in front of you, issue you a receipt, and pay on the spot for your gold!

How is your price determined?

Vancouver Gold pays as much as 98% of the current market melt value of your gold. This is much higher than most jewellery stores, pawn shops, infomercial gold buyers, and online mail-in services, which typically offer 20-60% of melt value. Remember, a troy ounce of gold weighs 31.1grams.

How do I know I am getting the best deal?

We have served thousands of satisfied customers in Vancouver, BC and all across Canada, and we are happy to provide references. Since we deal with local customers in Vancouver, and sell through our national network of gold buyers, we are able to keep our operating expenses low and offer excellent prices. After covering our refining, assay, operating and financing charges, our profit margin is very small, meaning that you are receiving the highest-possible payout for your gold. We have done extensive market research, and are confident that our payouts exceed those of our competitors.

How can I tell if my items are gold, or just plated?

Solid gold is usually stamped with the purity, while gold-plated items are stamped “GP”, “KP”, “HGE”, “RGP”, “GE”, or “GF”. We are unable to buy plated items as they contain very little gold.

So you sell jewellery?

Our North Vancouver location has recently reopened as a gold buying office and a jewelry store! Offering great prices on both gold and silver jewelry and diamonds it’s always worth visiting to see what we have in stock.

Do you pay extra for my appraised jewellery?

No, all of our purchase prices are based on current prices of gold, silver, and platinum. With today’s high gold prices, there has never been a better time to sell. Most of our customers are surprised by the value of their jewellery items.

How can I use a magnet to test my jewellery?

Gold is not magnetic. Many gold-plated items have a core of nickel or iron, which ARE magnetic. So, a magnet can be used to determine if your item is nickel or iron, with a thin plating of gold. WARNING: Some gold plated items contain a brass core, which is not magnetic.

What are your policies?

By law, you must show the proper government issued identification.

You must be at least 18 years of age

Stolen merchandise will never be considered. We will notify the police if we are aware that you have attempted to sell stolen goods.

We keep detailed records of all transactions. You will be required to sign a form stating that you are the lawful owner of the items you are selling, and that they are neither stolen nor the proceeds of crime.

What type of Identification is required?

By municipal law, we are required to view one of the following: Driver’s License, Passport, Provincial ID, Citizenship, Indian Status Certificate, or Provincial Residence Card.

I live far away from Vancouver. Is a mail-in option available?

Yes – we now offer a FREE Mail-in option. Simply click here to provide your mailing address, and we will send you an Insured GoldPack, with tracking included. Once we receive your GoldPack, we will issue payment the same day. Also, we will return any gold plated or magnetic items to you, free of charge.

How are you different from a pawn shop?

By specializing in precious metals we are able to offer much higher payouts than pawn shops. We deal in larger lots of gold which affords us the best available rates — and our personally trained staff and gold testing equipment allows us an extremely high accuracy of jewelry testing – this confidence enables us to pay out the highest prices in the industry.

What experience do you have as gold buyers?

We’ve been operating our primary office in Vancouver, BC since 2009. We were one of the first and largest of the Canadian gold buying companies. By working with and closely training all of our gold purchasers we have absolute confidence in their ability to test and value your gold and silver!

What determines the value of a diamond?

The value of a diamond is valued by what are called the “4 Cs” – Cut, Colour, Carat, and Clarity. The cut of a diamond is the shape and design of the stone. The colour of a diamond is determined on a scale of D-Z which ranges from Colourless (Most valuable) to a light yellow (Less valuable). Carat is the size of the stone – each carat is a fifth of a gram. Finally the clarity of a stone is a grading of the inclusions (or lack thereof) as appraised by a gemologist viewing the stone under a microscope. Once our gemologist has confirmed these qualifications the price of the diamond will be decided.

How can I determine which Canadian coins are made of silver?

Old Canadian Dollars, Half-Dollars, Quarters, and Dimes were made of silver. All silver Canadian currency is non-magnetic – Hold a strong magnet against a pile of coins and anything that picks up or pulls is Nickel-Copper. You can also look at the date on the coins to determine – Anything from earlier than 1966 will be 80% pure silver, coins from 1967 are ~60% and 1968 coins are 50% silver (For half of the year. The magnet test can help determine whether you have a silver or Nickel-Copper coin.

Why are silver forks and spoons worth more than knives?

Almost all silver knives are made with a stainless steel blade and core. After pulling apart dozens of knives from different silverware companies we have determined that approximately 80-90% of the weight of a silver knife is actually silver – the rest is stainless steel. Fork and spoons, on the other hand, are solid sterling.

How do you decide your price?

We calculate our prices directly from the spot value of gold and silver. Our bullion and coin prices are a little higher than our jewelry and scrap in order to compensate for the cost of refining the pieces.

When is the best time to sell?

The gold and silver prices tend to stay fairly stable on a week to week basis – Even fairly large fluctuations will cause a difference of no more than a couple percent. In larger scale – now is a better time to sell than ever! In the last five years, the price of gold has nearly quadrupled. With prices sitting near their all-time highs it’s a great time to sell gold and silver. Another way we make it easier than ever to sell gold is our price lock guarantee. Even if the price of gold drops, we will offer the best price from the past three days on any gold jewelry.

Is this the best way to get the money out of my jewelry?

If it is gold jewelry, for most pieces the value of will be determined by the actual gold content. In some cases – particularly for pieces with valuable stones or from recognizable designers – you may be able to get more money by selling the piece as jewelry. Ask around and get a couple of quotes before making a final decision. You may be surprised with the range in the offers you receive.

How Do I Spot a Scam?

The gold buying industry is unfortunately a popular target for con artists – both with buying and selling gold. Be wary of any gold buyer who offers unreasonably high prices online or over the phone – With the spot gold price having a set value, anyone offering 150% of the value of gold will need to make money by other means –Often by cheating their clients. Transparency is very important at Vancouver Gold – If a gold buyer is insistent on concealing their testing methods or payout procedure you should approach their business with caution.

Can I buy gold and silver bullion?

We sell gold and silver bullion. We keep a limited inventory of both gold and silver bars and coins in the office -> It’s always a good idea to call ahead to make sure we have the bullion you’re looking to buy in stock! Our Vancouver office usually has the greatest volume of both gold and silver – it should be the first place you check when looking to invest in buying gold and silver. We can accept payment by cash, bank draft, or certified cheque.

Do you buy gold and silver bullion?

We do buy both gold and silver bullion. Due to the purity of these pieces (99.9%) they are popular for buying and selling as investments. For this reason we offer an even higher price on bullion than we do on jewelry and scrap – since we save money on refining and shipping, we can afford to pay out the highest possible price!

Do you buy broken or damaged jewelry?

Since the prices we are offering are based directly on the metal weight of the gold jewelry, we’ll offer the full value of a piece – regardless if it’s slightly scratched or in total smithereens.

What do the stamps on gold mean?

On most pieces of professionally made jewelry there will be a tiny stamp which indicates the purity of the gold it’s made of. With many pieces this is written in the Karat format – i.e. Parts per 24. For example, 10k jewelry is 10 parts per 24 – 10/24 or 41.7% pure gold. For this reason 24k is the highest purity of gold — You can’t get much purer than 24/24! Another format of stamping involves marking the piece in parts per 1000 such as 417 (For 10k gold) or 750 (For 18. 18/24 = .750). Finding these stamps is usually a fairly accurate way of determining what your jewelry is made of.

Can I test my jewelry at home?

Without the use of specialized (and often expensive!) testing materials, it’s difficult to get an accurate test to do at home. That being said, there are a few quick checks you can do to see if it’s likely solid gold or silver: The first and quickest test involves applying a strong magnet to the piece. Solid gold and silver are not magnetic, so using a magnet is a quick way to rule out a lot of costume jewelry. The other way to determine the value of your jewelry at home is to inspect it for a purity stamp. Most pieces of professionally made jewelry will feature a stamp (Usually in a tough to see place – Like the inside of a ring or back of a pendant) which indicates the purity of the gold.

How accurate are your tests?

After extensive testing and assaying we’ve found that the gold tests we do in our office are greater than 99.5% accurate! By double checking and applying multiple tests to a single piece of gold we can promise near 100% accuracy in our appraisals of purity.

How do you know what it’s made of?

In the office we have a number of tests we can do on the spot to verify the purity of a piece of gold. These include the touchstone test, density test, and X-Ray machine – visit http://vancouvergold.ca/how-it-works to learn more.

What is my gold jewelry really worth?

With the rising prices of gold, the metal value of a piece is usually it’s greatest value. There are other methods of getting value out of a piece of jewelry (selling through consignment, selling as a solid piece of jewelry to a pawn shop, etc.) – but often you’ll find an offer of $100 for jewelry that’s worth up to $150 for the gold!

What are you paying for Gold?

Our prices update daily and scale directly with the spot value of gold and silver. On our website we display an always up-to-date table of our prices – and there’s no extra charges or fees. What you see online is what we’ll pay in the store!

Want to find out more? Call us at 1-888-682-5832 or visit a Canada Gold location near you.

Vancouver Gold Buyers are proud members of the Canada Gold network of gold buyers with locations from coast-to-coast. Conveniently located throught the Lower Mainland with 4 locations to serve you better. Visit Vancouver Gold Buyers to sell all types of gold in Vancouver, or visit CanadaGold.ca to learn more about our company and the gold buying process.

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Call us toll-free at 1-888-682-5832 or visit one of our convenient locations